The Worst That Could Happen
by Brit2
Summary: Dark and Angsty - The answer to a challenge on the slipstreambbs. Please review. Note rating is for violence and language no sexual pairings.
1. Can it Get Worse

Title: The Worst That Can Happen. By: Brit Status: WIP Rating: R - Language and Violence Pairings: None. All characters participate Spoilers: Minor ones. Summary: My entry for ZS's challenge, challenge.  
  
'Harper is extremely traumatised after an encounter of some sort while interfaced deep into Andromeda. He can't tell anyone what happened. Things start to go wrong on the ship, and there's nothing the AI can do about it. Who put this in her core, when and why? Apologies, I deleted the original e-mail about this so I'm not sure whose challenge it is, let me know and I will acknowledge you.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Andromeda or her crew. I do not make any money from my writing.  
  
Seamus Harper sat huddled in a corner of Machine Shop 17. Privacy mode was engaged but he wasn't sure how effective it was any more. He'd just had the most frightening experience of his life. What had just happened to him was scarier than any Dragan attack, far worse even than the Magog infestation. After all he'd survived those, he didn't think he'd survive this.  
  
He looked round, swivelling his eyes from side to side. He didn't know whom he could trust any more. He'd tried talking to Rommie about what he'd found while interfaced with Andromeda. She'd looked at him blankly, then carried on with their previous conversation. It was as if she couldn't hear his words.  
  
Andromeda herself had no knowledge of what Harper had found. He'd tried to tell the ship but the ship wasn't listening to him. He punched the metal wall of the machine shop repeatedly. He hardly noticed the pain. Seamus Harper was terrified.  
  
"Oh shit, oh shit." He muttered the words over and over. His voice becoming more and more panicky. There was a bang on the door, Harper scuttled across the floor and slid into a conduit. Not for the first time he thanked the Divine that he was just a little mudfoot from Earth. Unfortunately for him he'd chosen a blind-ended pipe to hide in.  
  
"Come on kiddo." Beka's voice was cheerful. "You've missed at least two meals today. Come and eat and keep me company, it's pretty quiet here with everyone else away." She knocked on the door again. "Harper, I know you're in there because you aren't anywhere else so open up."  
  
"Go away, go away, please go away." Harper whispered. He sucked his skinned knuckles, not feeling the pain. He couldn't go out there, she could be the one, it could be Beka. It could be any of them or all of them, he didn't know.  
  
"Andromeda, emergency override, authorisation acting First Officer Beka Valentine, omega, delta, five, theta, seven."  
  
The door opened and Beka walked in. "Harper, you OK, you're not sick are you? Come on shorty, show yourself, don't know about you but I want my dinner." She looked round the cluttered room. Where was he?  
  
Beka sighed in frustration, what was wrong with her little engineer; he'd been his usual manic annoying, hyper, self just a few hours ago. She walked over to the conduit where Harper had hidden. She could hear his breathing. She knelt down and reached into his hiding place. Her hand came into contact with a boot. She pulled and Harper slid into view. He realised it would be futile to stay where he was.  
  
Beka could see the fear on his face. "What's wrong Harper. Did you hurt yourself in there."  
  
Harper showed her his skinned and bruised hand. "Caught it on the edge of the pipe." Beka looked, he'd had far worse injuries, why was he making such a fuss. "Well it doesn't look broken." Beka tried to reassure him but deep down she knew that there was more to Harper's strange behaviour than a very minor injury to his hand.  
  
"Come on, dinner is ready, macaroni a la Valentine, a treat not to be missed."  
  
"Not hungry," Harper mumbled.  
  
Beka felt his forehead, his skin felt clammy, perhaps he was coming down with something. "Why not go back to your quarters and get some sleep. I'll save you some food you can have it later if you want it. Tastes just as good as left overs."  
  
She was trying to cheer him up, to get a smile from him. He just nodded and ran for his cabin, for all the world like a frightened animal.  
  
Beka shrugged, she wished Trance was there, although she'd looked after Harper often enough before Trance had joined the Maru. She didn't think the boy was sick. He looked more scared than anything. Perhaps he'd feel better after a good sleep. He'd been working very hard the last couple of days. He'd spent a most of his time interfacing with Andromeda and that took a lot out of him, especially since he usually forgot to eat or sleep. Beka resolved to keep a closer eye on him in future. It was almost impossible to stop him doing too much. She could at least take him food and watch over him while he ate. She smiled to herself; he was probably sound asleep by now.  
  
The object of her speculations was cowering under his bed cover. Sleep was the furthest thing from his mind. He mentally replayed the events that had led up to his terror. He forced himself to think calmly but he could feel his breathing becoming shallow and rapid. He didn't want to remember but he had to.  
  
TBC 


	2. Not Good Bad

Chapter 2  
  
He loved entering the hidden world of the Andromeda Ascendant. All her secrets were laid bare to his eyes. Twinkling blue data streams, binary threads meandering through and across the dark corridors that were the essence of the warship.  
  
He had often wondered if everybody with a data port saw things the same way that he did. He felt that it was probably a personal thing. The information would be the same but the way an individual viewed it would be very different.  
  
Harper saw corridors and rooms, some with locked doors some wide open. Some of the corridors were short and brightly lit, others dark and seemingly stretching to infinity. As he explored more and more of the pathways lit up. Doors opened to previously unvisited rooms. His senses were assailed by new data every time he jacked in.  
  
He was a little wary of opening some of the locked areas since his experience with the Andromeda backup that had led the ship to the confrontation with the Magog. He always checked and double-checked. Belt and braces his father used to say. Harper had built secure firewalls around some of the memory areas; there were things in the ship's past that were too sensitive, things that the ship herself did not want accessed. He'd always made sure that the information wasn't needed for the successful running of the vessel. He had been amazed to discover that Andromeda had her personal secrets. He respected her privacy; she was a lady after all. He was however, amused when he realised that she had been in love with every one of her Captains. Harper had punched the air with glee when he discovered that little snippet. "Yah boo, sucks to you, Dylan Hunt." He'd shouted childishly.  
  
The morning everything changed had started like any other. Multiple caffeine intake, waffles with syrup for breakfast and a long leisurely stroll down Andromeda's data pathways. He had gone further than ever before and found himself in an intricate maze of binary code. It was fun trying to work his way through them at first, however, things soon turned sinister. He was entangled and unable to get out. What was even scarier was that he was unable to return his virtual self to his real body. Usually he just had to think it and he was out. He looked around for the holographic representation of the ship. She would help him. He thought he could see her out of the corner of his eye but every time he looked directly at her she disappeared. This was not good; this was so very not good that it was bad.  
  
"Er Rommie." He tried tentatively. "Wanna give me a hand here, the Harper is good but even he has his limits." She ignored him and walked away. He managed to burst free of the entwining strings of binary and follow her.  
  
She led him deeper into the ship's mind than he had ever been before. He'd lost all track of real time long ago. He could have been in there minutes or hours, he had no idea. He didn't feel hunger, thirst or pain in his virtual body. Not always a good thing.  
  
Eventually Rommie stopped. In front of Harper was what he could only describe as a nexus. It shimmered like mother of pearl. Opalescent, beautiful but somehow obscene and evil at the same time. He reached out to touch it. The next instant he was slammed back into his real body, not before he had caught a glimpse of extreme evil. An evil so great that he knew he had to stop it or die. It made him shudder to think about it. The worse thing was that he had the impression that a member of the Andromeda's crew had put it there.  
  
Harper wondered why it hadn't killed him outright. Just a little accident, the others would have mourned for a while then they would have found another engineer. One who didn't poke about and pry.  
  
It was then that the voices in his head started. They had hardly been voices to start with. More like mutterings, as if someone was talking indistinctly across a crowded room. As time passed they began to get clearer. The clearer the voices became the more Harper's head ached.  
  
When Beka found him in the machine shop he was almost able to make out words. By the time he reached his quarters the words were crystal clear. There were two voices and they seemed to be arguing with each other. One wanted to kill him the other wanted to use him. He felt that he would go mad if they didn't stop then none of it would matter. Then as suddenly as they'd appeared the voices left. Harper lay on his bed totally drained. His sheets were wet with sweat and he felt ill and very sad.  
  
A few minutes later there was a tap on the door. He activated it automatically and Beka walked in, a tray of food in her hand. Sometime during that dreadful argument Harper had come to a decision. He was going to try to act normally and find out who had perpetrated the horror. He still didn't know what it intended to do but he did know that it was pure evil.  
  
"Hi, Beka no need to do that, I could have come to the galley. I'm feeling a lot better." He smiled lopsidedly. "I'm good, honest."  
  
"Why don't I believe a word of that?" Beka took in the reddened eyes the pale skin. "Why is it Harper that when you look like crap you always say that you're good? You are most certainly not good." She put the tray down. "Go take a shower, I'm gonna change these sheets, then you are going to eat this food and go back to bed and sleep for a straight eight. Acting Captain's orders." She smirked.  
  
Harper did as he was told. Beka had added a mild sedative to his juice, so he slept despite himself. His sleep was dreamless and refreshing but when he woke the next morning all the horror returned and so did one of the voices.  
  
TBC 


	3. You Can't Win

Chapter 3  
  
When he first woke up Harper felt wonderful. He'd managed as much sleep in one   
night as he'd had the whole of the previous week. He stretched lazily and   
yawned. His thoughts turned to Trance, as they did every morning, his sparkly   
purple babe.  
  
Then the voice started again. It was the voice that had wanted to use him. He   
thought of it as persuasive voice. It wasn't unpleasant to listen to at first,   
unlike the killer voice, but after a while it started to grate on Harper's   
nerves.  
  
It was laughing at him, belittling his affection for Trance. "What makes you   
think she is looking forward to seeing you? You're very much mistaken. She   
laughs at you all the time."  
  
Harper clapped his hands over his ears but of course the voice was in his head   
and he couldn't block it out.   
  
"Get out of my head," he hissed at the voice.   
  
It laughed again, and not in a nice way. "Only one person can do that, the one   
who put me in here, and I can't see them helping you."  
  
"What do you want me to do?" The engineer sniggered. "You can't make me do   
anything I don't want to." Harper felt triumphant. He could beat this voice.  
  
There was no reply. Harper jumped and punched the air. "Thought so," he   
crowed. He felt much more confident, he could stop the evil that he'd found   
inside Andromeda's main frame. He would have to be very careful but one thing   
he was sure of, a voice couldn't hurt him. He soon found out how wrong he was.  
  
He went to find some breakfast in a much happier mood. Beka was nowhere to be   
seen when he walked into the galley. He helped himself to a mug of fiercely   
strong coffee then looked round to find some food.  
  
A large ripe looking melon was lying on the table. That would be ideal, Harper   
loved melon. He found a sharp knife and went to cut into the fruit.  
  
The voice came back again, literally with a vengeance. Harper had picked up the   
knife in his right hand and approached the melon. The voice started whispering   
to him. "No," Harper hissed. "Not going to do that." The voice was insistent.   
Harper watched in horror as the hand holding the knife turned the implement   
towards him.   
  
It seemed like his own body was working against him. The knife was pointing   
towards his stomach and moving closer. He was powerless to stop its relentless   
advance. "Please, don't." He gasped. "Not much point in killing me, I can't   
help you if I'm dead."  
  
"Did I say I was going to kill you?" The voice was syrupy sweet. "I just want   
to teach you a lesson, show you that there is no point in defying me. I can use   
your body with or without your co-operation. It will be easier if you work with   
me but it isn't necessary."  
  
The knife moved away from Harper's body and he sighed with relief, only to cry   
out as it was drawn across his left arm. Blood welled up from the wound it   
made. "Bastard." Harper shouted. As if a switch had been turned off he was   
able to control his right hand again. He dropped the knife to the deck.  
  
"Someone's coming." The voice said, it chuckled. "Not a word, would hate to   
have to hurt such a pretty lady, but you know that I can if I want to. How   
would you like to have her murder on your conscience? I can make very sure that   
it looks like an accident."  
  
Harper shivered at the words. He looked at the blood dripping from his arm onto   
the deck. He grabbed a towel and wrapped it round his arm, putting pressure on   
it to stop the bleeding. He hissed at the pain it caused. He thought some more   
about the voice's words. If it was threatening to kill Beka then it couldn't be   
Beka that had planted the nexus inside Andromeda. Unless the voice was bluffing   
of course. He wasn't about to test the theory just in case.  
  
Beka walked into the galley humming happily. "Morning...." she started to say   
when she caught sight of the engineer trying unsuccessfully to wrap up his arm.   
Blood was still flowing freely from the deep wound in his lower arm and the   
towel was rapidly turning red. Harper was as rapidly turning a greenish, grey   
colour and as Beka rushed over to him his eyes rolled up in his head and he hit   
the floor with a thud.  
  
He woke up in bed on the Medical deck. Beka was sitting by his side an   
inquisitive look on her face. "How did you manage to do that?" She said.   
Harper looked up at her from under lowered lids. "Accident." He said tersely.   
  
"Yeah, whatever." Beka was not convinced. "I could understand you cutting your   
fingers off, Shorty but not a gash like that across your arm. If I didn't know   
you better I'd say that was a deliberate injury."  
  
Harper shut his eyes again. Beka sighed. She knew that she wouldn't get an   
answer from him while he was in this sort of mood. "If you want to talk you   
know where I am. Stay here a little longer and rest, try and take it easy   
today." She ran her fingers through his spiky hair. He turned his head away   
from her.  
  
"I've got too much to do to play games, Harper. The others will be back in a   
few hours." He didn't respond so she patted him on the shoulder and walked   
away.  
  
Inside Harper's brain the voice started laughing again. Softly at first then   
increasing the volume until the sound was almost unbearable. Harper squeezed his   
eyes tight shut. His head thrashing from side to side, tears of agony running   
down his face. The laughter stopped eventually leaving the engineer drained of   
energy. 


	4. Jigsaw

Chapter 4  
  
The period of time that Harper thought of as 'The Bad' began as soon as the rest of the crew returned. No sooner had the Maru docked than things started happening. Small, annoying things at first. Showers running scalding hot or freezing cold. Doors that shut suddenly. Tyr sustained a mild concussion when the machine he was using in the Gym malfunctioned.  
  
It took a while for Dylan and the others to notice a pattern to the events, which by this time were occurring on a daily basis. Harper was run off his feet pretending to repair systems that he knew were not broken. The voice had been very insistent that he carried on as normal. It constantly hissed at him, telling him what would happen to Beka if he said anything to the others.  
  
Harper tried very hard to please the voice, he was exhausted by this time. He was too tired to eat and kept himself going with strong coffee and frequent cans of Sparky. Beka found him slumped across the table in the galley, a can of cola clutched in his hand.  
  
She patted him gently on the shoulder to waken him and was unprepared for the wild look in his eyes when he woke. "I'm good, I'm getting on to it." He was already standing up before he finished the sentence.  
  
Beka put a hand on each of his shoulders and pushed him back down into his seat.  
  
"Come on, Sport what's wrong? Andromeda's never had so many little glitches. Is there something seriously wrong with her systems?"  
  
The sudden jolt of pain in Harper's head coincided with the lights going out and the urgent sound of a klaxon.  
  
"Life support failure in five minutes." The unemotional voice of the ship echoed throughout the corridors and compartments of the Andromeda Ascendant.  
  
Harper was up and running to the nearest access point. He jacked in to the main frame, the voice's maniacal laughter ringing in his ears. He raced frantically through the streams of data trying to find the corrupt file that had caused the problem. It took him exactly three minutes to delete the garbled code. He sighed with relief as he broke the connection.  
  
"That was too easy," the voice snarled as Harper slid to the ground totally wiped out. "I will have to give you a real test next time."  
  
The ship gradually came back to normal. Dylan was by now very concerned both at the condition of his ship and the health of his engineer.  
  
Trance had insisted on Harper returning to the medical deck and she was busily running tests. Harper could have told her there was no point; nothing would show up on any diagnostic screens. The voice was far too clever for that.  
  
For a few short hours all was quiet inside his head. He was able to get a little sleep and felt much better for it. He also had a secret that he hoped against hope the voice would not be able to access. Harper had found something while he was trying to stop the life support failure. It hadn't registered at the time but when he'd woken refreshed from his nap he'd realised that he'd stumbled across something that might help him fight the voice.  
  
It had been hidden in one of the routine data files. A few lines of code that had made no sense on their own and certainly did not fit in with the rest of the file. Harper had once seen a jigsaw puzzle and that was what the fragment reminded him of. A piece of a puzzle, he only had to find the rest and all would become clear.  
  
What excited him most was that the code was a tiny part of a holographic image. If he could find the rest he was sure he would see who was causing all the havoc on board. He had no idea why they were doing it. They must really hate Dylan and the rest of the crew. Unless, a sickening thought occurred to him. What if Dylan was the one causing all this? Who knew what effect spending 300 years in a Black Hole would have on a person? Harper shivered at the thought, then shivered again as the man he was thinking about walked on to the medical deck and came to sit by his bed.  
  
"How are you feeling, Mr Harper?" Dylan's voice and facial expression were all sympathy. Harper was not fooled.  
  
"Shiny, Captain." He wasn't really lying; it felt wonderful not to have the voice in his head, even if it only lasted for a short time. "In fact." He swung his legs round to get off the bed. "I'm just getting up and out of here."  
  
Dylan shook his head. "Normally I would tell you to stay where you are for at least a few more hours but I need you to run a full diagnostic on Andromeda. There have been five more incidents while you were asleep; relays are shorting out, conduits overheating. I need you, Harper, I'm sorry." He gave the engineer a shrewd look. "Have you got any thoughts on what's causing all these problems?"  
  
Harper shook his head mutely, the pain had returned and so had the voice.  
  
"I'm on it, Boss." He said reaching for his tool belt.  
  
He was heading down to the machine shop when Tyr burst through the door. The big Nietzschean was carrying an unconscious Beka. "Trance," he roared. "She's stopped breathing."  
  
TBC veg 


	5. You Choose

Chapter 5  
  
He was heading down to the machine shop when Tyr burst through the door. The big Nietzschean was carrying an unconscious Beka. "Trance," he roared. "She's stopped breathing."  
  
It seemed to Harper as if his whole Universe suddenly went into slow motion. He watched as Tyr put Beka on to one of the beds and Trance began to work on her.  
  
As soon as Tyr stepped away from the seemingly dead pilot Harper flew at him like a demon. He pummelled the big Nietzschean with his fists and feet and only stopped when Dylan pulled him away.  
  
"What did you do to her?" Harper screamed at Tyr. "You bastard, what did you do to her?" He was almost incoherent in his rage, so wild was he that he was able to totally ignore the cruel laughter echoing in his head.  
  
Tyr stood impassively allowing the small engineer to work off his anger. It was only when Harper had exhausted himself and was leaning against Dylan unable to move that Tyr reacted.  
  
"Boy," he said quietly. "I will forgive you that outburst, I know how much Beka means to you." He gave Harper a cold look. "But if you ever call me a bastard again I will kill you." Tyr turned and walked off the med deck. Not before Harper saw the tears that glistened in his eyes as he looked at Beka lying pale and unmoving on the bed.  
  
Trance was still working furiously on the blonde pilot. She looked over at Harper and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Harper I think we've lost her, I'm so sorry." She turned back again to Beka, Trance didn't intend to give up yet.  
  
Harper's legs gave way suddenly and he sat down on the deck. Tears were flowing unheeded down his face as he gave way to complete despair. The voice's laughter grew more and more evil. It was so loud that Harper thought everyone on the med deck would be able to hear it.  
  
There was a shout of triumph from the purple girl. "Harper, she's breathing, I've got her back." Harper was on his feet again in an instant. He wiped his sleeve across his face to try and dry the tears.  
  
Beka woke up to see three worried faces looking down at her. Trance and Dylan looked concerned, Harper looked dreadful. "Hey kiddo," she said a little painfully. "How'd I get here?"  
  
Trance smiled. "You stopped breathing, Beka and Tyr carried you here. Can you remember what happened?"  
  
Beka thought hard. "I remember walking down the corridor from the observation deck and there was a panel slightly out of alignment on the wall. I pushed it back in and there must have been some live wiring behind it. It gave me a shock, next thing I knew I was waking up in here."  
  
The voice sniggered. "Who will be next? A little surprise for the purple creature perhaps, or maybe for the brave High Guard Captain. The Nietzschean could have an accident. Who will it be? You make the choice you have an hour to decide."  
  
Now that he knew Beka was out of danger Harper was able to leave the medical deck. He slipped away quietly while Trance was busy, Beka was sleeping and Dylan had returned to the bridge. He thought his first task should be making the panel that had shocked Beka safe.  
  
He found the place in the corridor without any difficulty; he was working away at the wiring behind it when he felt as if he was being watched. Someone was definitely behind him; he could feel the hairs rising on the back of his neck. He spun round quickly the nano welder clutched in his hand. Rommie stood on the other side of the corridor watching him.  
  
He laughed nervously. "Rom doll you gave me a fright."  
  
"You should be frightened, Harper." Rommie said with a strange smile. Harper's blood almost literally ran cold. It was Rommie but the voice she was speaking with was not her own. It was the one that Harper had been hearing in his head ever since his living nightmare had begun.  
  
Rommie began to laugh and so did the voice in Harper's head. Their laughter rose to the ceiling in a devilish harmony. Harper screamed. "Stop, please stop." He sobbed.  
  
Rommie smiled again. "Time's up." She said. "Time's up." Echoed the other voice. "Have you decided? Who is it to be?"  
  
"I can choose anyone in the crew?" Harper needed to be sure.  
  
"Of course," the voice replied.  
  
Harper looked over at Rommie. "Sorry." He said. She looked at him uncomprehendingly.  
  
Harper took a deep breath. "I choose Rommie." He said.  
  
TBC 


	6. One Way Out

Strong R for suicidal thoughts and intention.  
  
Harper looked over at Rommie. "Sorry," he said. She looked at him uncomprehendingly.  
  
Harper took a deep breath. "I choose Rommie," he said.  
  
Chapter 6  
  
The voice was silent for long moments. "You're sure?" It asked him.  
  
Harper nodded. "Oh yes, I'm sure, very sure, never been more certain."  
  
The voice sounded almost subdued. "As you wish," it said.  
  
Nothing happened for some seconds then tiny blue sparks appeared at the very tips of Rommie's fingers. The sparks grew and spread. It was obscenely beautiful to watch. The electricity bridged the gap between Rommie's hands making a blue arc. He hair stood on end with the static created.  
  
The blue sparks flew up and down her body and she shuddered and thrashed about as if she was having a seizure. The AI fell to the deck and as she did the sparks subsided. She lay very still, there wasn't a mark on her body and except for her hair being wildly disarrayed she was as beautiful as ever.  
  
Harper felt tears rush to his eyes and spill over down his face. "I'm so sorry Rom doll, " he sobbed.  
  
The voice had been silent while Rommie had been 'dying' now it resumed. "I'm so sorry," it mocked. "Sorry that you picked the wrong one." The voice was laughing again its laughter in perfect rhythm with Harper's sobs. "Stupid kludge. Did you really think it was that easy?"  
  
It had never called Harper a kludge before. Had the voice finally made a mistake or was it tricking him again. He was very thoughtful as he wiped his eyes with his sleeve.  
  
He picked Rommie up and carried her down the corridor. He pushed open the door to his quarters and laid her on his bed. Harper stroked her hair trying to restore it to its customary smooth style.  
  
The voice had mocked him all the way. "Pathetic little man, how could she care for you, she isn't real, you made her. If you'd done a better job she would have been lusting for you instead of the big bold Captain Hunt. Did you think she would look at you while he is around?" The voice inside his head sighed. "Enough of all this emotion. I have work for you."  
  
Harper barely had time to draw breath when the klaxons started again. "Main airlock breach." Andromeda almost sounded weary. "Outer airlock door open, inner door unable to maintain integrity. Total breach in 3 minutes."  
  
"Run Harper," the voice screamed. "Run little kludge." Harper ran, he jacked in and with the usual rush was back inside the mainframe. He worked frantically. Some of the data streams were turning first red then black as they corrupted and 'died'. "Come on Andromeda," Harper was frantic. "Cut me some slack here." His fingers moved in the twisting streams. They were twining round each other, it was almost as if the corrupted data was infecting the clean data.  
  
"Two minutes to breach." Andromeda sounded as if she really didn't care if there was a breach or not.  
  
Harper prayed to the Divine that the others had managed to suit up, they would at least stand a chance. Perhaps they had even managed to get to the Maru. He had to be optimistic. Even if he died, he was no loss. "Status of crew," he gasped. He never stopped working but he needed to know. "Hunt, Gemini and Valentine locked down in quarters. Tyr Anasazi is on board the Maru." Andromeda answered. "Breach in 30 seconds and counting.  
  
29  
  
28  
  
27  
  
Harper worked frantically, he could see the last small piece of bad data but he couldn't reach it, he felt as if he was swimming in syrup. His virtual hand reached out infinitely slowly to grab the last few bytes of the program.  
  
17  
  
16  
  
15  
  
"Got it." Harper was triumphant as he erased and restructured the data. He held his breath, or he would have done had he been in his real body.  
  
10  
  
9  
  
"Breach contained. Outer airlock doors closed." Andromeda sounded exactly the same giving the good news as she had counting down the bad.  
  
Harper relaxed, he returned to his real body with a cry of triumph. He also had another piece of the puzzle.  
  
"Not bad," the voice admitted grudgingly. "Not bad but not good enough. You could have done that much faster. We will have to try that one again."  
  
"Why are you doing this? Why not just finish it?" Harper didn't really expect a reply.  
  
"It's fun," the voice replied, sounding surprised at his question. "Destroying the Andromeda and killing everybody would be so boring. This way I get to enjoy it."  
  
Harper shook his head. "You are truly warped." He said. While the voice was answering questions he decided to ask another one. "Who was that other voice, at the very beginning, the one that wanted to kill me?"  
  
The voice laughed. "You really are stupid aren't you? That was me too, my other side you might say."  
  
"Your evil twin?" Harper said sarcastically.  
  
"Oh no," the voice was genuinely startled. "That was my good side."  
  
Harper was once again exhausted but he hugged his little secret to him. He was pretty sure not that the voice couldn't totally read his mind. If it could it would have found his jigsaw pieces by now. Harper couldn't risk putting them into the mainframe, he'd memorised the code for the new piece and he needed to add it to the flexi where he'd stored the first piece before he forgot it.  
  
Lucky I'm a freakin' genius. His thoughts were more positive than they had been for some time. He was also fairly sure who was doing this. It had to be Tyr; he was the only crewmember that could possibly have escaped the airlock breach. Harper was puzzled though. He didn't dispute the fact that Tyr was an intelligent man. It would be stupid to underestimate the Nietzschean just because he was big and buff. Anasazi had never shown any great aptitude with computers. He must have had help from someone or something.  
  
Harper puzzled over the problem as he returned to his quarters. The voice was silent for now and the engineer wanted to download his puzzle piece into the flexi. He walked into his room feeling almost cheerful. Then he saw Rommie lying on his bed. How could he have possibly forgotten what had happened. He tried to put his feelings aside as he updated the puzzle file.  
  
Once he'd finished he staggered to the bed and sank down on his knees by Rommie's silent body. "I will stop this," he cried. "Even if I have to stop myself." He'd contemplated suicide before, many times during the magog infestation, and if he was honest with himself, many times during his miserable existence on Earth.  
  
Once the thought was in his mind it took root and grew. He really wasn't thinking straight and it was hardly surprising, he hadn't slept for hours and his tired mind wasn't seeing all the repercussions of his actions.  
  
He fell asleep still kneeling on the floor, his head resting on the bed next to his Rom doll. That was were Beka found him the next morning.  
  
She shook him none too gently. "Harper, wake up. What happened to Rommie?"  
  
Rommie sat up. "Nothing happened," she said. Harper was running diagnostics on my systems. He must have fallen asleep."  
  
Harper woke up with a start when he heard Rommie's voice. "Rommie," he said tentatively. "You're all right. How? You were dead, you died in front of me."  
  
"Harper," Rommie was confused. "What are you talking about? You were working on me all day yesterday. I was off line for a while but certainly not dead."  
  
Beka shook her head. "Come on Shorty, time for something to eat. I wouldn't normally recommend this but I think you could do with a couple of cans of Sparky. You look as though you need a sugar boost."  
  
The voice began to laugh again, quietly at first, then louder and louder. The eldritch laughter echoed through Harper's brain. "Fooled you," it said between insane chuckles. "Fooled you. Why don't you give up you excuse for a man? Put an end to yourself then the Andromeda will be all mine. It has been fun but now I'm getting bored.  
  
Harper started to cry; his escape route had been rendered useless. How could he die now and leave his friends to the mercy of the voice and its creator.  
  
"Eat my shorts." He said much to Beka's astonishment.  
  
TBC No evil cliffhanger this time. 


	7. Not this Future!

Harper started to cry his escape route had been rendered useless. How could he die now and leave his friends to the mercy of the voice and its creator.  
  
"Eat my shorts," he said, much to Beka's astonishment.  
  
Chapter 7  
  
If Beka hadn't been so worried for her friend his words would have made her laugh out loud. She walked over to him and put her arm round his shoulders. "Come on Kiddo, tell Auntie Beka all about it."  
  
Harper shook his head violently. "Nothing to tell, nothing at all. All in the Harperverse is good." He wiped his eyes.  
  
This was so obviously not correct that Beka didn't bother to dignify it with a reply. She led Harper towards the galley. She sat him down at the big table with a Sparky in front of him. Beka had decided not to ask Harper any more questions. She was sure that given time he would talk to her about whatever problems he had.  
  
Beka's silence freaked Harper. The voice was quiet too and while an hour previously he would have given anything for some silence the lack of noise now disturbed him much more that being questioned would.  
  
He cleared his throat. "I owe you an explanation, Beka." His mind was working furiously trying to find a plausible reason for his odd behaviour. He couldn't think of anything, Beka was far too shrewd to be fobbed of with excuses. "You're gonna have to trust me on this one Boss. I will tell you everything but not just yet." His pale blue eyes locked with her darker ones. He was the first to drop his gaze.  
  
The voice sniggered in his head. "Liar," it said. "You know that you won't ever be able to tell her anything. One of you will be dead before I let you talk and you know that it won't be you."  
  
Harper's hand clutched the Sparky can. His knuckles were white with the effort. The can gave up the ghost and crumpled, the fizzy beverage spilled out over Harper's clothes. It gave him the excuse he needed to run. He could run away from Beka but he couldn't run away from the voice.  
  
He reached his quarters and threw himself down on his rumpled, untidy bed. No sooner had his feet left the floor than the alarms went off again.  
  
"Power overload in hydroponics." Andromeda's unemotional voice could be easily heard over the noise of the klaxons.  
  
"Trance," Harper screamed. He was up and running, his whole being concentrated on getting to hydroponics as quickly as possible. "Not Trance, not Trance." He mumbled the words over and over again as he ran faster than he'd ever run before.  
  
He skidded to a halt outside hydroponics his chest heaving from the effort. He could feel the panicked beat of his heart against his ribs.  
  
The door was locked and the lock was jammed. "Andromeda, open the door to hydroponics." Harper was kicking the door as if he would be able to open it with sheer brute force.  
  
"Unable to comply," Andromeda replied.  
  
Harper ripped the panel off the control system. Blue sparks and a smell of ozone filled the corridor. He frantically re-routed wires and circuits with a desperation born of panic.  
  
Finally and oh so slowly the door opened. Harper rushed in to be met by a very surprised Trance. "Harper, what's wrong." She took his arm trying to calm him down and failing miserably.  
  
"Power overload," he panted.  
  
"Not yet," said the voice. "Soon, very soon."  
  
"I need you to leave hydroponics Trance. I can't explain just leave now." Harper pushed the purple girl through the door. "Get out and stay out."  
  
Trance opened her mouth to protest when there was a loud explosion from inside the hydroponics lab. She started to move forward and Harper blocked her way.  
  
"I have plants budding in there, Harper. I have to save them."  
  
Harper shook his head. "I'll look after them, Trance. Please get away from here, please." He was pleading with her, almost in tears. There was another explosion behind him and he ran for the access port on the far side of the room.  
  
Harper jacked in to try to trace the fault in the power circuits. The data streams were an ominous dark blue. In a few cases he could still see some of the healthy brighter blue but they were few and far between. He worked quickly and accurately stopping any further power surges. When he finished he was sweating but he also had another piece of what he liked to think of as his jigsaw puzzle. He could hardly wait to get back and load it into the flexi where he was storing the other two pieces.  
  
"Done," he said wearily as he completed the task of re-routing the power links away from the corrupt data.  
  
The voice sounded petulant. "This is too easy," it said. "I'm not enjoying this any more. I think it's time for the next stage in our little game." When Harper didn't reply it continued. "First though a little rest, it wouldn't do for you to be too exhausted to prove a worthy opponent for me."  
  
Harper almost felt its presence leave him, it was very strange. For the first time in days he was alone in his head. The voice was gone. Harper knew that the respite was only a temporary one. Perhaps it would give him time to look at the pieces of the holographic program that he'd been collecting. He didn't have the full picture yet by any means but he might be able to build up a partial representation of his tormentor.  
  
Trance rushed past him into hydroponics, all her concern was for her precious plants. Harper doubted if she'd even noticed him. He was wrong of course, Trance never missed anything. She knew that things were very awry with her friend. She had already seen one possible end to the whole affair and it had left her trembling with fear for Harper and the rest of the crew. She was helpless; there was nothing she could do to rectify what might happen. She could only hope that the future she had seen would not be the one that came about.  
  
She closed her eyes. It was all so clear. Dylan dead on the bridge, his head crushed like an eggshell. Tyr lying dead in a pool of blood, a totally insane Beka Valentine standing over him with a force lance in her hand. Harper's charred body lying in machine shop 17. Trance herself was cowering on the deck. A spiked metal collar round her neck was attached to a chain leash. The end of the leash was fastened to a ringbolt. Amid all the mayhem the three incarnations of the ship carried on as normal. Blissfully oblivious of anything that was happening around them. In command was Harper's tormentor made flesh. Trance caught sight of his face. Her eyes opened wide with shock. It couldn't be; how was it possible?  
  
The purple girl sat amid her plants and wept.  
  
TBC 


	8. I Know You!

Harper hurried back to his quarters while he was still free of the voice. He had no idea how long he had to check his puzzle. He engaged privacy mode not sure if it would work or not. He quickly removed the flexi from its hiding place and activated it. He read the code quickly. He was right he did have enough to create a rough holographic representation of his persecutor.  
  
He worked feverishly, he was very thirsty but he daren't stop long enough to drink a can of Sparky. He had to get this finished before the voice came back. He had no way of knowing if the voice was watching him. The thought of a disembodied voice being able to see what he was doing briefly amused him then he focused his whole being on what he was doing.  
  
Slowly, painfully slowly a form began to shimmer into existence in front of him. It flickered and phased in and out but gradually began to take a more solid configuration. Harper strained his eyes to try and make out facial features, hair colour, anything that would give him an idea of who he was dealing with.  
  
The face remained frustratingly hazy, apart from being able to tell that it was probably human he couldn't see any detail at all. Eventually the figure was as clear as it was going to get with the limited amount of code that Harper had retrieved from Andromeda's systems.  
  
One thing was very certain, the figure was male and very tall and broad. "Nietzschean size," Harper muttered. It was wearing what looked like leather trousers and a tight sleeveless leather tunic. Harper couldn't make out bonespurs but the arms were as blurred as the face.  
  
Harper's mind worked overtime. Was it Tyr? The big Niet had been very upset when Beka 'died' but that could have been an act. Dylan was large enough to be a contender too. Somehow Harper didn't think it was the Captain. It wasn't a Magog and it was too big to be a Nightsider although Harper wouldn't have been surprised if Gerentex had something to do with it.  
  
He thought again. Not poor old Vex, he hadn't lived long enough to get on board Andromeda. An idea struck him with the shock of a bucket of cold water. Rhade, it must be Rhade. Gaheris Rhade, Dylan's traitorous first officer. Long dead now of course. But how would Rhade know the current Andromeda crew. Rommie was helping him that had to be the answer.  
  
Harper's head felt as though it would burst. He was fairly certain now who he was dealing with. One more piece of the puzzle should be enough to confirm his suspicions. Rhade must have buried a program deep in Andromeda's main frame. Harper thought that it was probably there as sabotage if the Nietzscheans lost the war.  
  
Eventually one of the engineers would have come across it and activated it and they would have been taken over in the same way that Harper had. It would have probably happened much sooner too. Andromeda would have had a huge complement of engineers in her days as a High Guard warship. Harper was on his own and his work was cut out keeping the ship running. It wasn't often he had time to explore the matrix. Rhade hadn't counted on being trapped in an event horizon for 300 years either. Harper was feeling almost happy as he shut down the image and returned the flexi to its hiding place. At least now he knew whom he was dealing with. He was aware of just how hungry and thirsty he was. He was very tired too but he needed to eat something to keep his strength up. He headed for the galley; one of the things he appreciated most about living on board Andromeda was the constant supply of food. He was used to going hungry, even after he joined the Maru there had been lean times but now he could eat when he liked. He wasn't fussy about his food. He rummaged in the cupboards and fridge and decided on an omelette. Quick to cook, tasty and filling. He assembled the ingredients and sang happily as he beat the eggs in a large bowl.  
  
Five minutes later he was sitting down to a laden plate. A couple of cans of Sparky close at hand and Harper was temporarily in heaven. He savoured every mouthful and then pushed his empty plate away with a satisfied sigh.  
  
The voice could come back whenever it wanted to Seamus Z Harper was more than ready to do battle with it. He walked slowly back to his quarters, no hurry for the moment. He even managed a few hours restful sleep before he had to cope with the insanity that was his life under the voice's rule.  
  
He woke up aware that his name was being called. The voice was back. "Did you miss me little man," it asked? "Have you been all lonesome without me, kludge?"  
  
Harper smiled a secretive little smile. "Can't say that I have," he sniggered. He still had no idea how he was going to stop the voice but knowing its name had empowered him.  
  
The voice continued. "I've missed you, I've been so bored with no one to torture. I don't know what I'll do once you're all dead. I might have to keep you as a pet. Would you like that, little man?" Its tone was matter of fact; it spoke about killing the entire crew as if it was talking about swatting flies.  
  
Despite his intention not to let the voice get through to him Harper could not stop himself from shivering.  
  
"If you kill us all, who will crew the ship for you," he asked?  
  
The voice chuckled. "I can get myself another crew very easily, then there will be no stopping me. I will make the Andromeda a name to be feared throughout the Galaxy. No where will be safe from me."  
  
Harper played his ace card. "How can a disembodied voice that only exists in my mind possibly recruit a crew?"  
  
The voice laughed again, it was not a nice laugh and it sent cold shivers down Harper's spine. "You really haven't realised yet have you? You haven't a clue why I have kept you alive. I could have killed you the first time you accessed my program."  
  
Harper shook his head. "You're like all ubers you enjoy torturing people."  
  
The voice giggled. "An uber am I, what makes you think that? You are quite right when you say that I am enjoying torturing you. I will take a lot of pleasure in killing your friends in front of you. Even the pixie won't survive being thrown out of the airlock without an environment suit. I will let you choose the order they die in, that's only fair. You can even choose the method, I'll supply you with a suitable list."  
  
Harper remained silent.  
  
"Lost your tongue, little man? I could arrange for that to really happen if you like."  
  
"Just tell me what you want me to do," Harper shouted. "Stop playing with me."  
  
"If you wish." The voice sounded full of regret. "It's very simple, I want you to make me flesh. I want you to do for me what you did for Andromeda."  
  
"You want to become an AI? If that's what you want you will have to give me access to your full program, you will have to reveal your identity."  
  
"You do amuse me, Harper. You already think you know who I am. Did you really think that you could hide what you were doing from me? I see and hear everything that happens on board Andromeda. She keeps me well informed. I may even keep the avatar. I could have so much fun with her. She is anatomically correct after all."  
  
"I do know who you are," Harper said quietly. "You are Gaheris Rhade."  
  
The voice made a spluttering noise. "I am Gaheris Rhade? Oh my poor little man, how wrong you are. Shall I tell you who I am? You will know soon enough anyway when I reveal my program to you. I think I will make you wait a little longer." The voice giggled. "Now off you go Mr Super Freaking Genius Harper. Get everything ready for my 'birth'."  
  
TBC 


End file.
